Messier 5 (Serpens)
Fig. 1 - Rich in RR Lyrae variable stars: Messier 5 (NGC 5904) in Serpens, photographed with a 16-inch f/4.5 Dob on an equatorial platform.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messier 5 (NGC 5904) | Serpens | 15h19m / +02°05' | 23' | 5.6 mag |
The globular cluster Messier 5 (NGC 5904) in the constellation Serpens. Messier 5 is approximately 24,500 light-years from Earth, contains at least 100,000 stars and was discovered by German astronomer Gottfried Kirch and his wife Maria in 1702. Spanning 165 light-years in diameter, Messier 5 is one of the largest known globular clusters. With an age of 13 billion years, Messier 5 is also one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy (source: Wikipedia).
Twenty-three 3-minute exposures (69 minutes total exposure) at gain 100, taken on May 21 / 22, 2022, were added for this shot with Astro Pixel Processor (APP) software and the final image processing was done in Photoshop. Darks, flats, darkflats and bias frames were used.
Equipment: Cooled ASI 2600MC Pro camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system.
Field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same setup.
Fig. 2 - Search chart for Messier 5. Map copyright 2024 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.